Global South Anglican

COMING BACK from a fortnight in China at the beginning of this week, into the middle of what felt like a general panic about the role of religion in society, had a slightly surreal feel to it. The proverbial visitor from Mars might have imagined that the greatest immediate threat to British society was religious war, fomented by “faith schools”, cheered on by thousands of veiled women and the Bishops’ Benches in the House of Lords. Commentators were solemnly asking if it were not time for Britain to become a properly secular society.

The following address was given by Bishop Robert Duncan on the occasion of his receipt of an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Nashotah House. A long but helpful read. 

“...In fact I’ve learned to value the Anglican Communion more than ever. Archbishop Chew has been with us in the last two or three days, and he has underlined for me the importance of the Communion and the way in which the mere fact of the Anglican Communion opens doors in East Asia and elsewhere. I think the Anglican Communion is a very important thing indeed, and I want to see it strengthened, not weakened.”

Stephen Crittenden from ABC Radio National speaks to Archbishop Peter Jensen about the 2006 Synod, the Global South and what Jensen calls ‘the deep rift in Anglican Communion’.

“We would be foolish to think we will play a major role, but we would be equally foolish to think we would not involved at all.” - Abp Peter Jensen

At the ‘Seek the Welfare of the City’ conference held in Singapore in August 2005, Archbishop Chew says Chinese leaders saw that Christianity could be significant for its society and citizens, on the condition that Christianity, as seen in the papers which captured the early first century of Christianity and expressed as such, could be appreciated and welcomed as contributing to the social development and well being of Chinese society. “The Chinese leaders were happy and encouraged to see that the Christian church saw the welfare of the city as a priority,” he says.

What part are we to play? We must be peaceable and reconciling; I do not doubt that. We must cherish unity with our fellow Christians at the highest level possible; I do not doubt that. We must pray and work for the unity of the Communion; I do not doubt that. We must be concerned for and pray for the Archbishop of Canterbury; I do not doubt that. We must pray for and work for the unity of the Anglican Church of Australia; I do not doubt that. But there is no short cut to such unity…

God is determined to be the servant of this nation – to meet its true needs and to make his justice flourish. I pray that his church here may walk with him towards that justice and that peace. This will be my prayer and this will be the prayer of all of us who have been your guests in China. And I ask for your prayers for all of us as we go back to a country where we face the same problems about identification and freedom and cooperation and peace.

See also:

- A Press Conference given in Beijing on 22 October

- The Archbishop Williams’ earlier sermon “China emerging as senior partner in the fellowship of nation."

Finally, we believe that hope for the Anglican Communion is dependent on the Church worldwide earnestly seeking a deep work of the Holy Spirit that will lead to repentance, forgiveness, revival, and healing. We should work for a Church characterised by justice and compassion that strives to be a sanctuary of care where the truth can be told with love. Only then will we be able to meet the challenge to walk together in a way that honours the name of Christ whom we seek to serve, and witness to his reconciling love in a hurting and fragmented world.

Put this way, it is clear that the Bishop of New Westminster is not ‘in fact’ exercising proper ‘jurisdiction’ over his Diocese! He is neither guarding nor promoting Christian doctrine nor ensuring the standards of orthodoxy among his clergy; he is not exercising discipline in a way that coheres with the above; and he is certainly not proving either a focus of unity or a representative of unity within the larger church and Communion.

Given that the Panel of Reference process has taken twenty painfully slow and drawnout months to do what was considered desperately urgent at the onset, it is now tragic to receive a report that fails to address the crisis in New Westminster adequately. It simply does not reflect the depth nor the severity of the crisis that has been precipitated by Michael Ingham’s actions.

China is emerging as a senior partner in the fellowship of nations; a country whose economy is changing so fast and whose profile in the world has become so recognisable and distinctive that we can’t imagine a global future without the Chinese presence. 

The recomendations are available in plain text.
(Hat tip - Thinking Anglicans)
Full text of the PDF report here

These writings are God’s chosen means, together with the sacramental acts of the church, of making his self-announcement known to all ages. Scripture is not the first moment of God’s self-announcement; that is the historical deeds themselves by which he raised up Israel and Jesus. But neither is it a moment after God’s self-announcement, a retrospective commentary that could be peeled away, leaving the core intact. Scripture is, we may say, God’s administration of his self-announcement, the record he has authorised to it and the seal he has set on it to confirm that it is true.

More at Fulcrum

The ‘End’ of the Anglican Communion:  a Discussion with Inclusive Church

Editorial: I post here below the full article at Fulcrum by Dr Andrew Goddard for easier reading. It deserves a careful read as it places the Communique within it’s proper context and he showed a deep awareness of the issues facing our Communion at the moment. 

“...how is the church practically to realize what it is called to be? In the ancient church the way to becoming such a community is through a process of initiation beginning with the catechumentate, followed by baptism and climaxing in the eucharistic celebration. This long initiation process, lasting up to three years, aims to help Christians break away from the old pattern of life to embrace the new life in the new community.”

Fulfilled or Finished? The ‘End’ of the Anglican Communion: a Discussion with Inclusive Church

Ed: This is a helpful and insightful article which seriously tries to grasp what the Global South, at the foundational level, is called to witness to and move in the Communion in faithfulness to the historic Church, particularly its apostolicity; both faith once delivered and witness. Andrew Goddard is a lecturer at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford and a member of the Covenant Design Study Group called by Canterbury to assess the “implementability” of the proposed concept of an Anglican Covenant to be opted in by the Provinces if they chose to remain and fellowship in the Communion.

An Alabama Interview with George Carey

"I think they are talking. There’s a lot of sensible people on both sides who are talking and trying to resolve the situation. I do think, though, that by and large the American church has been irresponsible with regard to this because the appointment of Gene Robinson has created … division. It wrecked mission in the church. It’s decimated congregations….

The Network has been ten dioceses standing together, and we will continue to stand as we have done. Nevertheless, having twenty or, God-willing, thirty dioceses standing together as Windsor dioceses, committed to live within Anglican Communion boundaries and under an emerging Anglican Communion Covenant, should be a great sign of hopefulness for us all.

Some photo moments at Kigali. 

“Nourished by the Word, enriched by History, challenged by the current global configuration, dependent on the Holy Spirit, we appeal to all orthodox expressions of Anglicanism in this country to join with us in this historic process, so that we may achieve more visible expressions of unity in this catholic and reformed part of the Body of Christ.”

A member of the Convention said “we are one church with two minds” but it seems to me that it is two churches with two minds and two hearts!! The views are too diverse and are not constructed on one but very different types of Theological foundations. Of course we Anglicans accept diversity but there must be some boundaries to it. These boundaries are made by the whole Communion. 

At this time we need to spend more time to praying for the Communion as part of the Body of Christ, for the coming Primates Meeting and for Archbishop Rowan Williams as he leads in this critical time.